“They’re here to secure the perimeter,” Zeke said.“The Vaqueros have been watching your shop.If Tina told them where the music box is?—”
“If she’s even still alive to tell them anything.”Mia’s voice cracked slightly on the last word, and he saw the cop in her warring with the anger.“How long has she been missing?”
“Four days.She missed her first checkpoint.I’ve been searching, coordinating with Blaze, trying to find her before—” He couldn’t finish the sentence.
“Before they killed her for helping you.”Mia sank onto the couch, her anger giving way to something worse—resignation.“This is what you do, Zeke.You pull people into your operations, make them promises, and then they end up dead or broken or?—”
A sharp knock on the door cut her off.“It’s Blaze.”
Zeke opened the door, and Blaze entered with the controlled urgency of a man running multiple scenarios in his head.“Perimeter’s secure.I’ve got units on every entrance.What’s the situation?”
“Tina called me ten minutes ago,” Zeke said.“They have her.The call cut off, but I heard male voices, sounds of a struggle.”
“I’ve got tech running the trace now.”Blaze’s eyes moved to Mia.“You okay?”
“Define okay.”She stood, wrapping her arms around herself.“I’ve just found out I’ve been bait in a federal operation I knew nothing about.But sure, I’m fantastic.”
Blaze winced.“For what it’s worth, I pushed him to tell you.Multiple times.”
“Not hard enough, apparently.”
“Mia—” Zeke started.
“Don’t.”She held up a hand.“I need air.I need space to think.”
“You can’t leave,” Zeke said.“Not until we know?—”
“I’m not going anywhere.”Her eyes met his, and the hurt there cut deeper than any blade.“I’ll stay here where it’s safe, like a good little civilian who doesn’t need to know what’s happening in her own life.But right now, I can’t look at you.”
She disappeared into the bedroom, the door closing with a quiet click that somehow felt worse than if she’d slammed it.
Blaze let out a low breath.“That went well.”
“She has every right to be angry.”
“Yeah, she does.”Blaze moved to the window, checking the street below.“We got word back from the checkpoints.No sign of Tina at any of them.She either went to ground voluntarily or they grabbed her before she could make the first one.”
“She wouldn’t go dark voluntarily.Not after taking that risk.”Zeke’s phone buzzed—tech team from the field office.He answered.“Talk to me.”
“We traced the call.Cell tower puts it somewhere in the Sawtooth National Forest, east of Laurel Valley.But that’s a lot of ground to cover—we’re talking hundreds of square miles.”
“Send me the coordinates.I’ll coordinate with Sheriff O’Hara for search patterns.”He ended the call and looked at Blaze.“They’ve got her somewhere in the Sawtooths.”
“That’s Vaqueros territory.They’ve got half a dozen cabins up there they use for cooking operations.”Blaze pulled out his phone.“I’ll get my deputies organized, coordinate with Forest Service.But night search in those mountains—it’s dangerous.We’ll have better luck waiting for first light.”
“She might not have until first light.”
“I know.”Blaze’s expression was grim.“But getting our people killed trying to search in the dark won’t help her either.We go in smart, we go in prepared, and we go at dawn.”
Zeke wanted to argue, wanted to grab a truck and head into those mountains right now.But Blaze was right.A night search in unfamiliar terrain with hostile targets was a recipe for disaster.
“Dawn,” he agreed reluctantly.“But I want everything ready to roll the second there’s enough light.”
“Already on it.”Blaze headed for the door.“I’ll keep units here overnight.You watch her.And Zeke?Fix this.That woman deserves better than secrets and half truths.”
After Blaze left, Zeke stood in the quiet apartment, staring at Mia’s closed bedroom door.He could hear her moving around in there, probably pacing, probably running through every interaction they’d had over the past week and reanalyzing it through this new lens of betrayal.
He’d done it again.Chosen the operation over honesty.Told himself it was to protect her when really it was just easier to keep her in the dark than to trust her with the truth.
